Welcome to Skin Therapy
Hi Y’all! I am Allyson, a Holistic skin therapist, a nutrition nerd, Biome babe, Massage mama, and a supporter of anything that cultivates a deep sense of nourishment and relaxation. As my first blog post, I wanted to invite you to walk you through my framework, how I seek to support the skin, and how you can begin to be in relationship with your skin in this way.
Skin is a complex world, so I wanted to take some time to share what makes my work different than standard skincare and beauty industry practice, what informs and inspires me, and how you can cultivate skin health. My ways of seeing and working with skin have been informed over the last 8 years, through many teachers (Important to note BIPOC herbalists, massage therapists, acupuncturists and the very important wisdom of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), as well as Indigenous teachings on relationship with the more than human world and land stewardship) trainings, books, case studies, intuition, and touching countless faces.
The first thing I want all new clients to consider as we begin to work together, is that the skin is not object but subject. When we begin to shift our thinking of the skin from this thing out there, the serves a purpose of behaving, looking good, and accessorizing us, from that of a living organ, a protective barrier, a detoxifier, highly complex, intelligent, and deeply connected to our internal systems , we start to see things very differently. Here in lies the success of our skin health. When we begin to see our skin as living tissue, made up of highly specialized cells, and when we begin to see the skin at the cellular level, we can really see amazing results. All cells have a variety of needs in order to maintain their function and health, including hydration, micronutrients (vitamins and minerals to assist in cellular functions) communication, macronutrients to rebuild and maintain integrity, cellular energy, removal of waste, antioxidants to help rebuild and protect from a variety of stressors, and much more.
If we are looking at how to support the skin from the cellular level and in a functional manner, we are going to rethink what we put on our skin, and the question becomes, how can I feed and support my skin? If we are asking this question, then we will begin to set the stage for skin health, which will ultimately yield strong, vibrant, hydrated and resilient skin.
I have spent years in search of the right skin care lines that support my ways of seeing the skin, that are functional and nutrient dense, and that are not harmful at the cellular level. I have carefully selected skin care lines that feed the skin the nutrients it needs, minerals, vitamins, lipids, hydration, and antioxidants. It is equally important that your skincare be devoid of harmful substances that can breakdown important functions of the skin, overwhelm the lymphatic system, and harm other aspects of our bodies like our endocrine systems. For this reason I have carefully selected lines that do not contain emulsifiers (mostly), fragrances, dyes, fillers, preservatives (mostly), parabens, mineral oils, and micro plastics. It is not enough that what we use on our skin have good nutrients, we must also be aware of not degrading our skin with substances that can build up in our tissues, and overwhelm us.
This leads into my next obsession, the skin microbiome and the skin barrier.
We have all been conditioned. We have been trained to see bacteria as the enemy of our skin, exfoliation the solution to any skin ailment. The beautiful reality of our skin is that it is highly intelligent, complex, and with the right environment, it will shine for us. It helps me to explain to clients what the function of these two very important components the skin biome and skin barrier are, and from a space of understanding, we can begin to celebrate and not fear these parts of us.
The truth is, we have more microbes than cells, or DNA, and these microbes do not just simply exist on us, but are an integral part of many enzymatic, and immune functions. By now we know that “good” gut microbes play an essential role in immunity, mood and digestion, but we are just starting to see how a diverse set of microbes inform our skin. What you need to know is that in terms of microbes, diversity is key. Healthy skin has a wide variety of microbes, and we can help to cultivate this through gut health, nutrition, not using stripping or pH altering products, avoiding the harmful substances mentioned earlier and feeding our skin good microbes topically. Good skin microbes actually help us out by digesting lipids in the follicle, defending against more harmful pathogens and not so friendly bacteria (think yeast overgrowths, staph infection, and boils) and helping to strengthen our skin’s immune system. All in all, when the skin biome is off, you will surely know it, conditions such as peri oral dermatitis, rosacea, acne and inflammation can all point to an imbalanced skin biome.
The skin barrier is becoming more and more talked about (yay) but that doesn’t mean it makes any more sense to you. A basic way for me to describe the importance of our skin barrier and how it informs our happy and healthy skin is to consider a house. If your house has a weak foundation and has bricks and shingles falling apart, is this a strong, stable and resilient house? The answer is no. Would you expect that house to be able to weather a storm, protect you from the environment, hold up well? This is exactly what we are doing to our skin with conventional skin care practices, extremely hot water, processed foods, gut dysbiosis, and high stress. We are weakening our skins important foundation, and it will not be able to serve us. There are actually many barriers our skin magically utilizes to maintain homeostasis, but for this blog we will keep is simple and consider the brick and mortar substances that is our stratum corneum. Cells that are held together with lipids (ceramides) serve to protect us from harmful irritants, pathogens and allergens, as well as help prevent water loss from the surface of our skin. The more we protect and maintain this barrier, the less we see issues of premature aging, inflammation, rashes, acne, reactivity and sensitivity, dryness, and other inflammatory skin conditions. A healthy skin barrier is a healthy foundation, and if we seek to maintain and strengthen it, we reap the benefits of vibrant skin.
My work as your holistic skin therapist centers around feeding your skin nutrients, maintaining hydration, increasing cellular energy and communication, facilitating waste removal, protecting the skin barrier and biome, and teaching you how to trust, nourish and appreciate the complexity that is your skin. In my facials i utilize healing plant compounds, barrier forming substances, enzymatic exfoliation that works similarly to our own natural shedding process, antioxidants to protect and defend, facial massage to promote blood flow and oxygenation as well as removal of wastes, and modalities like LED and microcurrent that increase cellular energy.
I hope this serves as a thorough introduction to how I work with skin, and that you have begun to become more curious about the intricacies of our largest organ.
